Is Hooker The New Cool?

Recently it was having a tattoo that was cool, then being a stripper was cool…then being a tattooed stripper became cool ...and could land you an Oscar and a gig with Spielberg.

Well, all that’s done, it’s on to the next trend. Hooker is now the other white meat or the new “cool”. It’s like the oldest profession in the world has somehow gotten a much needed shower and makeover and become the newest craze. With people like the unoriginal, wigwearing, bandwagon jumper Donald Trump vying desparately to get Spitzer’s hooker for his own version (as coined) of “you, me and Dupre”….to Joe Francis, who is now coming out with a “Hookers Gone Wild” series. It’s only a matter of time before other sleaze peddler’s crawl out of their sticky hole’s and join in on the crusty fun.

So I question, is being a Hooker now getting a positive spin? Are we destined to see “Are You Smarter Than A Hooker” pop up, not as an SNL sketch, but an actual show celebrating this profession anytime soon? Hollywood has always maintained to keep it looking cute and cuddly with their rendition of the prostitute as a “positive” character. Remember Pretty Woman, Mighty Aphrodite and the implied Holly Golightly character in Breakfast At Tiffany’s all showed us the delightful side of call girls.

While some networks/producers/etc. might be raising their “it just might work” brows and contemplating adding “positive” Hooker character’s to spice up Pilot season, the thought is not absurd or far from the pitching front lines. Technically, positive hooker placement and promotion in TV has already been and is being done. The show Millionaire Matchmaker featured a quirky female escort offered on a silver platter to Millionaire’s searching for an arm trophy. Showtime will air Secret Diary of a Call Girl in June 2008, based on the revamped call girl Belle du Jour who writes about her adventurous romps on an internet blog. And, My Name is Earl is using Paris Hilton for their April 3rd episode. Yeah, I know, she’s not really a hooker, but close enough.

Back in January, Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hof first put an offer out to Paris and Britney to join the Bunny Ranch as “celebrity” participants to boost viewership. Clearly a joke, or maybe not, as he did think to bring the idea to HBO who airs the popular Cathouse series that exposes his stained Bunny Ranch hookers, johns and their exploits. Obviously the idea was not entertained. But hey, with the sudden ‘born again’ interest in Hookers, and the way things are going with those two train-wrecks who love to follow any trend, this might just happen.

So cashing in on the overly ‘beaten to a pulp’ Hooker topic is nothing new but still a trend, as Hookers will always be hot – news, that is. And while the show 'Client #9' gets contemplated, I’m sure call girls from the east to the west have wisened up and are now looking for their big payday/break. Trying to get booked on talk shows or with high end clients for that matter, ultimately to launch their careers (whatever that may be). Perhaps for that prostitute looking to get out, this may be a good time to get in the Hollywood biz, pitch their story and achieve that “hollywood” happy ending.

So is there a new underlying glorified trend of this age old profession? Does the message from these shows convey being a call girl will possibly bring you a millionaire to latch onto, a spot on network tv to tell your story, or continue your 15 minutes of fame? Will it influence our youth, and all that jazz? Again, it has always been there. We can choose not to watch or listen to things that give it a positive spin. That’s also what adult or parental controls on TV sets, Tivo’s and Computers are for.

Whichever way this “positive” new age Hooker is spun, I’m confident that the endless sea of prostitution documentaries and investigative reports exposing the dark side of this seedy vocation will once again bring it back down from its shiny facade to its grim reality.

6 Comments

Glenn T

MARCH 12, 2016 AT 3:15 PM

Great stuff, Lila. I don't think it comes as any surprise that Gov. Spitzer's "girl" is cashing in on her sure-to-be-short-lived fame, that's the business she's already in, no? But, I'm not sure that television's (reality and scripted) pursuit of the topic is really all that suprising or shocking. "Pretty Woman" aside, the social economics that has been peddled to us for years is a soft-core version of prostitution anyway.

The Bachelor, Joe Millionaire, Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire - what is the message of these shows? Why do we watch them in droves? They are selling one message: pretty girls are supposed to be with wealthy men... when these men seem to offer up little else aside from financial independence (and an endless shoe budget). And television notwithstanding, to participate in any small part in the L.A. nightlife, is to know this fact undeniably.

For my part, I'm no more disgusted with the Spitzer girl or the other now-thriving-in-the-mainstream prostitutes than I am with any of the women I've seen on these shows or that I see stuck to the arm of some short, fat, balding "producer" who can't shovel cocaine into his date fast enough. In fact, I have some modicum of respect for that fact that they don't feign moral indignation over my suggestion that they're in it for the money - and in the end, that unwillingness to self-delude may be what saves them.

Steven Lane

MARCH 12, 2016 AT 5:18 PM

It was Spitzer that was disgusting. The girl was cool.

madmax427

MARCH 13, 2016 AT 9:56 AM

Good one Lila! But can this being just another way of 'Programming' Young Ladies for the 'pleasure' of Dirty Old Men? I ran across a story about a game targetted at girls as young as 8 yrs old, I think it was "Keep Your own Bimbo" or something like that where, in the game, You had to watch the weight (gotta be skinny for the Guys) and earn money (Bimbo Bucks) so They could afford Breast enlargements (gotta have those BIG Knockers also for the Guys) and the Creator(s) of this 'game' tried to pass it off as a positive experience for the Girls because it taught 'saving' money! Never mind the fact it also taught or led to eating disorders!

I guess the true motive is IF You train them young enough, You can more easily get the 'desired' results. All Men, at least all Men attracted to Women, want, if not a Hooker, SOME attributes of one at one time or another and the Old Fashioned way of two Adults agreeing on what is acceptable for those two, for the enjoyment of Both parties, just isn't effective enough, so the press is on to 'program' girls at an ealier age to speed up the process and increase the choices by promoting mindless sex toys for those that can afford them. (Sorry; feeling onery!)

Jen

MARCH 13, 2016 AT 11:28 AM

Here is a link to an article about that grim game MadMax mentions "Miss Bimbo Sparks Outrage...".

Apparently the hosts of the Miss Bimbo game have removed the option of diet pills. How socially conscious of them.

The way we sexualize our youth is really sad. Dont kids get to be kids anymore? I mean...I love men but I really wasn't thinking about them in "that way" until I was 13 or 14...around the time my hormones kicked in. Now...I have a 5 year old niece who talks about how much make-up one should wear to "get a husband". The 8 year old is far more grounded...thank god...but this shit really concerns me!

"Bratz dolls come dressed in sexualized clothing such as miniskirts, fishnet stockings, and feather boas. Although these dolls may present no more sexualization of girls or women than is seen in MTV videos, it is worrisome when dolls designed specifically for 4- to 8-year-olds are associated with an objectified adult sexuality"

– APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls

And they thought "Barbie" was bad...

Great topic!

L DeSilva-Johnson

MARCH 13, 2016 AT 1:03 PM

I'm sure I'm not the only underpaid one out there who had more than a second thought when the fees for Spitzer's girl ($4000+ per hour, they didn't mention tips and gifts) came up... many, many people I know have done all sorts of, er, "adult" jobs to support children, school, and other careers. I don't think it's the new "cool" but hell if it's not a viable way to support oneself, working only a couple of hours a week, the sort of financing and schedule that allows you to have time and energy to, oh, I don't know, write screenplays.

Not a little bit the underhanded way we end up playing into larger schemes of proving our immorality which will come back to bite us in the ass legislatively, I'm sure. I don't have the energy to discuss it right now, though -- I've only got a few seconds between jobs to search the want ads for overpaid sex with benefits, connections, and book deals.

but yes I agree what 2 consenting adults do (paid for or not) clearly is no concern of anyone's. obviously when "hookerism" gets pushed & marketed to little girls who haven't even filled out yet, that's disturbing as it creates xmas joy for pedophiles.

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